Posts by Ryddragyn

When Dan (spearthebigones/spearstuff) and I went kayak diving last week, I narrowly missed a large bug that I nicknamed "Houdini". For a large bug, it was an adventurous risk-taker, leaving its hole once disturbed, zipping backwards around the reef, and avoiding me at every turn.

Eventually, I lost track of it and had to give up.

Slightly less than a week later, there were three undeniable facts: First, I knew where he lived; second, he was still there; and third, I was coming after him again. The moon was hidden, the stars were dull, and the bioluminescent algae were gone. A much darker dive, as this was rather appropriately a black ops mission for lobster. I was quiet on the paddle over as Daniel and Davis chatted about diving. I was on a quest. I wanted this lobster, I had come too close the first time.

I swam to the spot, but couldn't find him in any of the holes into which I looked. So I made my way over to the center of the reef to look for other legal bugs, or on the off chance he had migrated. I found nothing but clickers and holed-up barely legals, as did the other divers. So I swam back towards the home turf of Houdini.

My persistence paid off. I looked in a tiny little crack that didn't even look like a cave at first, and there he was. I stuck my whole arm inside, like I was a deep fisting the reef. Got a hold of his body, but he squirmed and a leg and antenna came off. He retreated deeper into the cave, but at that moment a wave came and flushed out the sand and I could see with my mask light that this was not a cave, but a tunnel straight through the rock! Only one way he could go.

Without surfacing for a breath, I rose a few feet, and the surge propelled me over the rock. I saw the bug grab a hold of some kelp with about half of its legs and disappear into a shallow ledge as the waves pushed both it and the kelp into the rocks. I lunged at the ledge, hoping the bug would still be hanging on. He was! I grabbed him with both hands, abandoning my primary light. He struggled, but I quickly brought him to my chest, bear hugging the spiny, slimy mass of lobster and kelp, and he clamped on. Then I made for the surface, and ripped the kelp loose.

I hit the surface, got my first fresh oxygen in a minute and a half, and the first word out my mouth was "Justice!". I called to Davis, who helped me get my bag open to secure the monster. Then I swam back to my kayak, got everything stowed away, and rested.

Back on land, Houdini weighed in somewhere close to 5 pounds, though the scale wasn't very accurate (and I don't really care, for that matter). Not the biggest bug in history, but a really nice one for Laguna, and another one "rescued" from the MLPA

Thank you Daniel for inviting me along again, and for helping me get my kayak loaded and unloaded, and to Davis for joining up and helping me get my rusty old Trident bag open. Nice meeting you. We'll all get again sometime soon and find a spot with big bugs for you guys to grab Hate seeing other guys go home empty-handed.

down

Quote from Va spearo

Thanks guys!

@Don - I was born in Groton, but my dad was in the Navy, so I got accustomed to moving around a lot- thankfully always near the water:) Yea, I'd be happy to sport the "new" logo.

Ryddragyn - The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel produces a LOT of fish and is quite fun! Vis is generally not great, but I'm guessing you're used to that if you're diving the rivers. The Chesapeake Light Tower is also decent, but that is still ~15 miles offshore. Where the heck did you dive in C-ville? Spearfishing? I only dive the Nottoway on scuba for fossils, and always wish I had a polespear with me when the big catfish swim by;)

I freedove (nonspearing) in the Lynch River where it ran on my property, and in the James River in Richmond, where I lived for a few years after college. The latter was full of those massive blue and flathead catfish - if only it was legal to spearfish there.

Thanks for the info. Post some reports up as you do your trips.

I grew up in Charlottesville, and did a lot of freediving in rivers out there before moving to CA for work and spearfishing. Where do you do your local diving? All offshore or is there anything closer to the shore?

Quote from sdeisen

garibaldi is good?? thats a surprise ,, how far south into baja do u have to go before it turns tropical

Surprisingly good sashimi, but then again I was starving, and the thing was still gasping for air when I cut it open. Pretty damn fresh. Have to try it cooked next time.

Tropical? Well Baja is a desert all the way down, I think. Not sure how tropical is defined in terms of water temp and fauna.

To answer the earlier question about water temp at where we were, it was about 55F.

Quote from spearstuff

Pretty much the same fish that we can find in Southern California. Almost the same temperature and visibility too.

The main difference is that it's Mexico. Plus I didn't see another diver the entire time we were down there. Feltl like we had the entire coastline to ourselves.

What he said. Basically exactly like California except less diver pressure. Also, the local fishermen mostly target deepwater fish with hook and line, so some of the freedivable fish are a fair bit larger on average than they would be back home.

Oh yeah, and you can also legally shoot garibaldi and eat them raw on the beach! :@

Nick-

As far as them falling out, I wear a hood, so that's a non-issue. I have worn them scuba diving as well with no issues whatsoever.

That's the personal experience part of it. As far as the potential issues you are describing, with a non-vented plug that would be absolutely true, and a very bad idea. With the vented ones, the theory is that your ear still obeys the laws of physics, and is subject to the same water pressure as it would be if you aren't wearing them. But since there's a ~1mm hole there in the plug, the pressure onset isn't as sudden. Thus, you've got a little more time to get air in your head. It's NOT meant as an excuse to not equalize, like you've implied, nor are they meant to be held in by pressure. They are contoured to fit the outer ear, and not to enter the ear canal at all. The ones surfers wear are non-vented, but have the exact same shaped mold.

I started using them recently. My motivation was primarily to reduce repeated ear infections that I was getting. So far, they seem to work for that purpose quite well. As for the benefits of equalization, I did an experiment where I wore them for one dive, and didn't on another less than a day later, so as to minimize the fickleness of my ears as a variable. At least for me, there seemed to be a definite benefit, albeit a slight one.

Downsides: the sizing is a bit tricky, and if you have cartilage damage to either ear it makes the fit not as secure as it could be. Also, with a 7mm hood on, a size that is slightly too large can be a bit uncomfortable as the hood puts pressure on the earplug, and then on the ear. This seems to go away once I'm in the water though. Out of the water, once you take the hood off there's a risk of the plugs falling out without noticing it. Thankfully, they are cheap and easy to replace. I just choose to leave my hood on most of the time.

Hope that helps. Results may vary, etc.

Quote from hank

WOW !! How did you choose which tape to buy? so many colors. Nice.
Did it stick to your fins? Thanks for the link.

Yes, it stuck to my fins (unscratched). Like I said, I doubled up on it, and it's lasted almost 2 years at this point.

I use this stuff:

http://www.auctiva.com/stores/viewstore2.aspx?id=675974&styleid=12

I don't know what the exact brand is, but it's worked well for me. And like I said, lots of options.

Quote from nyspear

What's wrong with it? I was thinking about getting some.

The adhesive was very poor and not resistant to abrasion. It peeled off rather quickly, even when placed on unscratched, clean plastic blades. Maybe it was a bad batch, but when there are so many other options available for the same or better price, it wasn't worth trying again.

Check ebay they have some great deals on there for lure tape. Lots of colors and patterns. I double up on it with one piece on top of the other, both the same shape. The tape is very durable but the reflective bit can get worn over time. Doubled-up it will stay shiny a long time.

The mako tape is the worst flasher tape you can possibly buy.

A Riffe Euro shaft should fit just fine, though they are a bit pricey. I've put them on my own pipe gun, as well as on friends' Beuchats.

I would also say consider doing a 6.75mm instead of a 7.1mm shaft. You'll get more recoil with the heavier 7.1mm shaft on such a light gun, but the jump from 6.5 to 6.75 doesn't make that much difference in recoil.

When I first switched to using camouflage wetsuits, I would have leopard sharks of various sizes come up to me and rub up against me.

Apart from that, I saw a large soupfin at Catalina once, probably around 6'. It was way more scared of me than I was of him.

Quote from Dan

Ryddragyn Spanish

¡No no! Soy un gringo MUY "blanco"...pero yo prestaba atencion en la escuela secundaria. <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x">

Quote from Ramon

Ryd de cerca si, de lejos ya no es lo mismo ese verde fosforescente

Entiendo que no es lo mismo, cerca vs. lejos. Fue la unica foto que tenia.

Lime green seems to show up nicely most of the time.

The people in the North Atlantic section can beat this easy, but I'm wondering if we can consider freshwater stripers to be distinct. 12#

Nice touch with the handle being made of black walnut, since it's the wood traditionally used for gun stocks (light, good at absorbing vibration and shock).

What was the PR?

Up front: I'm strange in terms of tolerance, and I don't spend a lot of money on different suits, so I make do with what I have.

Anything from 48 to about 75, I am perfectly comfortable in 5mm farmer johns plus a 7mm jacket. I don't seem to overheat very much at all, nor do do I get cold that easily. I can withstand 58 and above in 5mm alone.

However, anything above 70, any suit I wear is more for sun protection than insulation. I'll throw on whatever I have at the moment (7mm or 5mm jacket by itself) to prevent the burn, but I have trunked it in 73 degree water and been fine.